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Stars Wars: Galaxy's Edge will open at Disneyland Resort in California in summer 2019 and at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in fall 2019. Fans of "Star Wars" and the Disney parks are clamoring to not only see the Millennium Falcon, but to strap into its cockpit and actually pilot the legendary ship in one of the featured new attractions. Disney Parks

Cast members will be clad in the garb of the First Order and the Resistance, and will be allowed to mix and match ensemble pieces to create their own distinctive looks and personalities. Christian Thompson, Disney Parks

Disney Imagineers view a TIE fighter as they work on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, opening in summer 2019 at Disneyland Resort in California and fall 2019 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Joshua Sudock, Disney Parks

Rounding a corner in Black Spire Outpost, the instantly recognizable spacecraft comes into full view. There, in all of its glory, is the Millennium Falcon.

At over 100 feet wide and about 30 feet tall, Han Solo’s signature spaceship looms large in its maintenance bay on the remote planet of Batuu. It is stunning.

And it’s also a short walk from Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland.

The Falcon is the one of the main attractions in the rabidly anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land opening this summer in California's Disneyland, and this fall in Florida's Disney World. Each of the lands is estimated to cost about $1 billion.

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Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will open at Disneyland on May 31and Walt Disney World on August 29.
USA TODAY

Disney invited a small contingent of journalists to preview the far-away galaxy in February, while it was still under construction. Though attractions, shops and dining locations were closed during the sneak peek, there was enough exciting news about what's to come to fill the curdled heart of Darth Sidious with joy. .

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Two rides will headline the lavishly themed, nearly identical 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands coming to both of Disney’s U.S. resorts. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will empower visitors to take control of Han Solo’s famed hunk-of-junk starship, while Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will place them on the front lines of a skirmish between the Resistance and the First Order. Joshua Sudock, Disney Parks

Beyond the rides, expect lots of details to explore, blue milk and other distinctive drinks and dishes to sample, and interactive opportunities to experience, including the chance to meet Kylo Ren. The West Coast Galaxy’s Edge will open in the summer, while the galactic gang won’t make it to Florida until the fall. Joshua Sudock, Disney Parks

Mickey Mouse recently celebrated his 90th birthday, but the cherubic mascot hasn’t aged a whit. In fact, retro, pie-eyed versions of Mr. Mouse and his constant companion will star in their first ride, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Set to debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the fall, passengers will be magically transported into an animated world alongside the mice where they will board a train with Goofy at the helm. Disney

Legoland Florida will open an entire land devoted to the movies this spring. The featured attraction will be The Lego Movie Masters of Flight. A flying theater attraction (think Soarin’ from the Disney parks), it will immerse passengers in the films’ offbeat animated world. Merlin Entertainments

The land will also include Unikitty’s Disco Drop, a drop tower ride; Battle of Bricksburg, a ride that will arm passengers with water sprayers; and Emmet’s Super Suite, where visitors will be able to meet characters from the movies. Merlin Entertainments

Six Flags Fiesta Texas has re-imagined its interactive dark ride with new, original, seafaring characters. Riders will wage battle against nefarious mermaids and pirates, including the dastardly Captain Morgold, while trying to capture hidden treasures. Six Flags

There are plenty of sunny days in Orlando. And now you’ll know how to get, how to get to Sesame Street when SeaWorld brings the beloved locale to its park. After guests visit Mr. Hooper’s store, the 123 stoop, Big Bird’s nest and other iconic spots, they’ll be able to hop on themed rides such as Elmo’s ChooChoo Train and Slimey’s Slider (which will let kids explore Oscar the Grouch’s compost heap – ew!). SeaWorld Parks

Lionsgate Entertainment City in New York City‘s Times Square will present experiences based on the movie studio’s films and television shows such as “Divergent,” “Gods of Egypt” and “Ash vs Evil Dead.” Lionsgate

There will be a motion simulator attraction that will take passengers on an adventure in the Capitol from “The Hunger Games,” an interactive shooting dark ride set to the movie “John Wick: Chapter Two,” and a VR experience that will place participants on virtual motorcycles and unleash them in the world of the film “Nerve.” Lionsgate

Perhaps the most outré venue to open in 2019 will be Kind Heaven, a hard-to-describe $100 million attraction set to open in the late summer on the Las Vegas Strip. The brainchild of Jane’s Addiction front man and Lollapalooza impresario Perry Farrell, it will include dining and live music enveloped in a highly themed experience. Kind Heaven

Visitors will be transported, using theme park trickery, to Asian locales modeled after Bangkok, Tapei, the Himalayas and elsewhere. Vegas is no stranger to grand spectacle, but Kind Heaven promises to be especially audacious. Kind Heaven

When the 3-million-square-foot American Dream (the third-largest mall in North America) opens in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it will boast more space devoted to entertainment than to retail shops. Leading the lineup will be Nickelodeon Universe, the largest indoor theme park in the Western Hemisphere. American Dream

American Dream will also include the indoor, glass-domed, 8-acre Dreamworks Water Park. It will be open year-round and feature an enormous wave pool and other rides themed to the animation studio’s movies. American Dream

The Jurassic Park ride has been terrorizing visitors with its fearsome dinosaurs and splashdown finale for years. With the “Jurassic World” reboot amassing T. rex-sized box office receipts, Universal Studios Hollywood is getting its water ride spiffed up for the next generation of genetically engineered, prehistoric creatures. Universal Studios Hollywood

The former Reese’s Xtreme Cup Challenge at Hersheypark will morph into Reese’s Cupfusion. In the new version of the interactive dark ride, visitors are assigned the mission of protecting the candy factory while scoring points. Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company

For its latest expansion, Dollywood carved out a 6-acre tract for the $37 million Wildwood Grove. Geared to visitors with children, the land will welcome original woodland characters such as Benjamin Bear and the fairy butterflies Flit and Flutter. The centerpiece Wildwood Tree will sparkle with incandescent leaves and other effects after dusk. Rides will include the spinning TreeTop Tower and the galleon ride, Sycamore Swing. Herschend Family Entertainment

BigFoot Rapids at Knott’s Berry Farm gets a makeover and will reopen in the summer as Calico River Rapids. Like its wonderful, classic attractions Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride, Knott's will be introducing animatronic characters and themed show scenes. It will also amp up the river rapids thrills for the ride. Cedar Fair Entertainment Company

The art collective Meow Wolf is partnering with Elitch Gardens in Denver to bring what it is describing as the “first artist-driven dark ride.” The multimedia attraction, which will open in April, will likely be highly colorful (you know, like a kaleidoscope) and trippy. Elitch Gardens

Galaxy’s Edge aspires to new heights

At 14 acres, Galaxy’s Edge represents Disney’s largest single intellectual property expansion. The huge spires of petrified tree stumps sprawl in all directions and, using the tried-and-true theme park trick of forced perspective, make the land seem even bigger. At its center is the ancient black spire that gives the outpost its name. Perhaps signifying the area’s rebirth, a live tree is growing out of the decayed spire.

The outpost’s village is an odd mix of modern whiz-bang technology and old buildings fashioned out of stone. Full-scale X-wing and A-wing starfighters, along with the TIE fighter Echelon, are casually parked alongside bazaar stalls and well-weathered, round-domed structures that have apparently been around since long before space travel was possible.

To help create the land, its designers traveled to cities such as Marrakech, Morocco, for inspiration.

According to Chris Beatty, executive creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering, the Galaxy’s Edge team wanted to build a place that is “mysterious and has danger, but is romantic at the same time.”

“Our team subscribes to the three-second read,” says Wendy Anderson, executive creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering. “If in three seconds, I don’t know it’s ‘Star Wars,’ it doesn't belong.” To help ensure fidelity to the “Star Wars” universe, the Imagineers worked in tandem with staff from Lucasfilm.

When the lands open, beeping and booping droids will wander the paths. Aliens will be milling about. Cast members (what Disney calls its park employees) will be clad in the garb of the First Order and Resistance, and be allowed to mix and match ensemble pieces to create their own distinctive looks.

Shops, which are surprisingly small (as they would be in a marketplace located on an outpost), will include the Droid Depot, where guests can design and assemble working droids that will interact with the land; and Savi’s Workshop, where would-be Jedis can build personalized lightsabers.

The Mouse has been doling out details about the Star Wars lands it has been developing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland (the California Galaxy’s Edge is scheduled to open in the summer) in dribs and drabs, and the full picture has yet to come into full focus. Disney/Lucasfilm

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will transport guests to a remote trading port on the edge of space, where "Star Wars" characters and their stories come to life. The land will open at both Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland in California in 2019. Disney

Bob Chapek, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and consumer products, revealed exciting details of new experiences coming to the parks during the Destination D event held for members of the D23 fan club in November at Disney World. Ty Popko

The focus may be on intergalactic adventures at Disney World in 2019, but Mickey Mouse, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, will help bring things down to Earth with a number of developments dedicated to him across the resort. Matt Stroshane

Replacing The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will transport guests into the animated world of the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts and feature its retro, stylized characters and look and feel. Disney

Mickey will be among the cavalcade of stars in "The Wonderful World of Animation," a new nighttime show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As with other presentations that use the park’s Chinese Theater as a backdrop, it will incorporate projection mapping along with pyrotechnics, lasers and other effects. Disney

Visitors will be able to hobnob with characters from “Monsters, Inc.” and “The Incredibles” as well as get their groove on with Doc McStuffins and other video celebs at the Disney Junior Dance Party! Matt Stroshane

The "IllumiNations" fireworks spectacle that caps each evening at Epcot has been running for years, and there has been talk about replacing it for some time. Chapek confirmed that the show will end in summer of 2019 and that a new nighttime presentation will take its place in 2020. Disney

Drink in the 'Star Wars' vibe

Disney’s culinary team shared some menu samples at the preview event, and the picks were generally tasty, surprisingly adventurous and delightfully zesty. Felucian Garden Spread was a highlight. Spicy meatballs that contained plant-based Impossible Burger were cooled when paired with a cucumber and tomato salad topped with hummus. Yobshrimp Noodle Salad of the planet Naboo was particularly spicy.

“We have food and drinks that look like one thing, but taste like something completely different,” says Brian Piasecki, culinary director, concept development, at Walt Disney World Resort.

You might expect the blue sky-colored Jedi Mind Trick, which is served in a cocktail glass, to be sweet. Instead, it contains bitter notes and spices.

Other specialty drinks include a Dagobah Slug Slinger and a T-16 Skyhopper, served at Oga’s Cantina. And yes, some of the beverages at the cantina will include alcohol, which will break a longstanding Disneyland tradition. (Sister park Disney California Adventure has long served liquor.)

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CAVU Designwerks and Framestore dreamed up Adventure Machine, an interactive dark ride in which passengers aboard automated, trackless vehicles would be able to control the motion of the vehicles using shooters or other input devices. CAVU Designwerks

Cavu and Framestore revealed an interactive roller coaster train that could speed up, slow down or turn depending on the actions of the riders. With shopping malls losing anchor stores and other tenants, the ride developers envision their interactive coasters bringing renewed energy and purpose to underutilized, indoor retail spaces. CAVU Designwerks

In one of the three “Game Changers” attractions that AVU Designwerks and Framestore have brainstormed together, passengers aboard a pair of drop-tower rides would face one another and see media projected onto a transparent screen between them. CAVU Designwerks

One of the industry’s leading designers of interactive dark rides, the Sally Corporation, had an impressive Big Bird animatronic character on display to promote the interactive Sesame Street attraction it is building for a 2019 debut at PortAventura Park in Salou, Spain. Arthur Levine for USA TODAY

The biggest news in the theme park world for 2019 will be the opening of the Star Wars lands coming to Disneyland in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. In one of the attractions, guests will play hands-on roles piloting the famed Millennium Falcon spaceship. Disney/Lucasfilm

The Guardians of the Galaxy attraction now under construction at Florida’s Epcot will be a “storytelling coaster,” and will feature innovative ride vehicles that will pivot to optimally position passengers for show scenes. Marvel/Disney

Some of the thrill machines that will be opening in 2019 were showcased at the expo, including Tidal Twister, coming to SeaWorld San Diego in California. Manufactured by Skyline Attractions, the ride will feature two sets of cars that will race forward and backwards a number of times and cross over one another in the middle of a compact, horizontal, figure-8 track. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

Expo attendees got to see football-inspired seats and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ distinctive black and gold colors when S&S Sansei Technologies offered a first look at the lead car for the Steel Curtain, the 220-foot-tall, 75 mph behemoth coming to the Pennsylvania amusement park, Kennywood. Arthur Levine for USA TODAY

Dynamic Attractions revealed its latest concept at the expo, the Duel Power coaster. Like Disney’s Test Track and Radiator Springs Racers, the attractions would attach ride vehicles to a hidden roller coaster track. Unlike those attractions, each of the newfangled ride vehicles would include independent motion-platform bases and their own onboard power supplies. Dynamic Attractions

Perhaps the most intriguing new application of virtual reality technology on display was ParadropVR from Simworx. It simulates skydiving and incorporates interactivity into the experience. Arthur Levine for USA TODAY

Legoland Florida will be taking visitors airborne when it opens the Lego Movie Masters of Flight ride in early spring of 2019. It will be part of a new Lego Movie World land that will bring the quirky characters from the popular and wildly funny films to life. Arthur Levine for USA TODAY

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Have a blast aboard spaceships

You might need some liquid courage to take the controls of the Millennium Falcon, which guests will learn has been commandeered by Hondo Ohnaka, a character that has appeared in animated “Star Wars” series. A crafty pirate and smuggler masquerading as a businessman, he will be recruiting flight crews to embark on possibly shady missions.

In the queue, visitors will hear a crew working on the ship and trying to get it running. Visitors will pass a starship engine getting its intake valves and thrusters adjusted.

In the command center, guests will meet the impressive animatronic Ohnaka and his droid, R5-P8. They will then make their way along a jet bridge from the spaceport to the Falcon, while catching glimpses of the Dejarik holochess table.

When it’s time to report for duty, a crew of two pilots, two gunners and two flight engineers will make its way down the ship’s iconic tunnel and into its storied cockpit. Unlike a typical motion-simulator attraction, which is pre-programmed and passive, the crew will actively pilot the Falcon, using buttons, levers and switches and a custom-built game engine that will ensure no two rides are the same.

As groundbreaking and anticipated as Smugglers Run may be, the other ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance "is the most ambitious attraction we’ve ever built. It’s almost like being on four attractions at once,” says Bob Chapek, Disney’s chairman of parks, experiences and products.

Guests will enter a passageway cut into the hillside where the Resistance has set up a secret encampment on the outskirts of Black Spire Outpost, and walk through a long set of corridors. Weary guests will appreciate the benches that are built into the rockwork along the rambling queue. They will pass equipment cabinets and see medical supplies as they walk farther into the encampment.

Eventually visitors will reach a ready room where an animatronic BB-8 will greet them and project a holographic transmission from Jedi-in-training Rey. Doors will open to reveal Poe Dameron’s docked X-wing fighter.

About 50 guests will enter a large spaceship and stand for a flight that, in typical theme park fashion, will go horribly wrong. Visitors will be able to see animatronic pilots in the cockpit, and will have views of the journey via monitors in the front and rear of the ship. Shortly after leaving Batuu, the First Order will ensnare the ship in a tractor beam and transport it to a Star Destroyer.

Guests will enter the enormous Star Destroyer, be greeted by a large contingent of armed stormtroopers and be taken into detention cells. Kylo Ren, who will appear a number of times in the attraction, will address the prisoners.

At some point, the guests will board trackless transport vehicles and witness a skirmish between the First Order and the Resistance. They will travel under full-size AT-AT walkers.

“Grown men are going to cry. People are going to fall to their knees and start kissing the ground,” predicts Margaret Kerrison, managing story editor for Walt Disney Imagineering. “There’s so much anticipation and excitement for this.”

Despite the hoopla that the two Galaxy’s Edge lands will likely create when they open later this year, Disney is already thinking about the future.

“There are all kinds of stories that can still be told. It’s not a land that’s locked in time,” says Beatty. With Lucasfilm releasing new “Star Wars” movies as well as books, TV series and other content, he adds that there is room to build and evolve Galaxy’s Edge for the ongoing saga.

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It would be crazy to visit Disney World and not enter any of its theme parks. And with one-day tickets for peak season dates rising to $129, it's going to cost you dearly. But if you know where to look, the vast resort offers a number of free activities beyond the parks that can help make your vacation memorable without putting a dent in your travel budget. Disney

You don't have to be inside the parks to catch the nightly pyrotechnics. Some of the best spots for the Magic Kingdom show are the Ticket and Transportation Center, the beaches at the Polynesian Village or Grand Floridian resorts, or the bridge between Disney's Contemporary Resort and Bay Lake Tower. Disney

You don't have to be a hotel guest to take the complementary guided tours that some Disney World resorts offer. For example, Wonders of the Lodge is a one-hour exploration of the art and architecture of the Wilderness Lodge. Disney

There are a number of free water taxis to board, including ones that ply the rivers connecting Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and nearby hotels, and transport guests from the Grand Floridian to the Magic Kingdom ... Disney

It's not much fun to head home, and you'll have to pay the airfare. But if you are staying at a Disney World resort, you can print your boarding pass and check your luggage at the hotel, and then take Disney's complimentary Magical Express bus to the airport. Disney